Page 98 of You Cake My Breath Away

She’s going to be successful, and she deserves everything she has coming her way.

I know it with every fiber of my being.

If only she knew I’d give anything to be back there with her, rooting her on and watching her make her dreams come true.

But you can,my conscience reminds me.

I crack my knuckles and push away the thoughts. Even if I could fly out tomorrow, she wouldn’t want me there. And I don’t blame her. She was worried she wasn’t enough to make me stay, that I was going to leave her like everyone else did, and that’s exactly what I ended up doing. I proved her right, and now I’m where I was meant to be, miserable but successful.

“Archer,” Gideon calls from the wings of the stage.

I shove my hands in my pockets and head his way, stopping momentarily to say hello to one of the producers. Gideon smiles like a Cheshire Cat as I approach.

“They love you,” he exclaims.

“Who?” I ask.

His hand clamps onto my shoulder and he leans in. “The network. See that woman over there?” He points to a redhead in a pink business suit talking with the director. “That’s Allie Marin, the network CEO.”

I shrug, but my insides are twisting with curiosity. “Okay, and?”

“She thinks you’re charismatic,” he says, accentuating the word. “Wants you to be our new Ty Pennington.”

The comparison steals the air from my lungs. Ty was the reason I became a carpenter, why I started a construction business. Extreme Home Makeover made me want to be able to change the lives of the people around me by making their dream houses come alive. Being compared to him is the highest compliment I could’ve received.

“What does that mean for me?” I ask.

“I assume you’ll be pulled into another contract meeting to see what shows you’ll be able to participate in.”

His words fill me with unbridled ambition, renewing my hopes that people will no longer associate me with the Wilson surgeons, but with my career as a staple on the home improvement network circuit.

“Wow, that’s amazing.” I drag a hand down my beard, stunned into silence.

“You might want to get an agent to handle this stuff, maybe think about buying another house here for when you’re shooting.”

The mention of buying another house gives me pause. “What do you mean for when I’m shooting?”

He laughs. “Well, you know how these things go.”

I don’t.

“Humor me,” I say.

“You’ll shoot this show and be required to be here for any re-shoot necessary, but you’ll be able to go back home once this contract is finished. Assuming you’re going to get picked up for a second season of Stud Finders or another show, then you’d come back to the studios to shoot on another schedule.”

In my rush to get to Knoxville in time for shooting, I never once thought about what happens after the show ends. Normally I’d thinkthrough everything, read every line of the contract, twice, make sure all my ducks were in a row, but I was so hellbent on getting as far away from the mistakes I made, from Tilly, I didn’t do my due diligence in asking the important questions. Thankfully, I haven’t found an apartment yet, and the network is paying for my hotel and food expenses while I’m here, so I haven’t had to worry about that.

I was thrown into the lion’s den when I got here, and immediately started shooting the next day. I didn’t have time to think about anything but retaining all the important information about where I was supposed to be at what time, and who not to look directly in the eye when I spoke to them.

Gideon walks away, prattling on as I absentmindedly toy with the chip in my pocket. Its presence used to soothe my nerves, but recently all it’s done is remind me of the woman it took away from me. The woman I made feel like she wasn’t enough for me to stay because I thought my stupid brother was telling me she deserved better.

I pull it out of my pocket and stare down at it. I close my eyes, wistfully imagining Sebastian is right beside me. But he’s not. And the chip in my hand is nothing but a reminder of all the loss I’ve experienced. The truth of that statement hits me directly in my chest and I stumble backward.

I collapse into a chair, resting my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands. I gave up everything I had, everything I could’ve had with Tilly, love, marriage, a family, because of this stupid chip.

My phone vibrates in my pocket, and I slip it out and see Shantel’s name on the screen.

Shantel: Can you come home soon?

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